Life Sciences Commons^™

Survey Of Native Predatory Hemipterans And Assessment Of Nabis Americoferus Carayon (Hemiptera: Nabidae) As A Biological Control Agent Of Lepidopteran Tomato Pests, Andrew Laflair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Invasive species have become a grave threat to the economic viability of our global vegetable producers. Tomato pinworm Tuta absoluta Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) has expanded from its range originating from Peru to being established in nearly hundreds of countries, causing tomato production losses of up to 100% on occasion; however, it has not yet been found in Canada or the USA. Southwestern Ontario is a significant tomato producer making it a high risk from this invasive species. Efficient integrated control methods such as native biological control agents (BCAs) that avoid creating insecticide resistance are ideal. Surveys of Southwestern Ontario conservation …

Utilizing An Integrated Approach To Explore Niche In A Complex Equatorial System, Danielle Orrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our ability to identify and understand the relationships and distributions of organisms in nature is key to exploring the rich tapestry of life seen on Earth. The term "niche" describes how animals partition resources in space and time, shaped by behavioural choices and environmental conditions. Iterations of niche over time have focused on different aspects of a species' ecological characteristics, from Grinnell’s initial study of songbird distribution (‘spatial niche’) in 1917 to Elton’s description of functional attributes shaping trophic position (‘trophic niche’). The fusion of these niche definitions formed Hutchinson’s n-dimensional niche hypervolume. The coexistence of …

Experimental Analysis Of Fish Sensory Systems: From Behavioural Responses To Physiological Extremes, Roselia Ayala-Osorio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fishes are surrounded by various types of stimuli in their habitats which provide important information about their environments. Here, I investigated how various types of stimuli can affect the behaviour and physiology of two freshwater species: the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and the black bullhead (Ameiurus melas). In chapter 2, I tested for a synergistic response in the round goby to multimodal stimuli, by presenting acoustic, visual, and olfactory stimuli separately and simultaneously. The results showed a significant decrease in the average respiration rate during multimodal stimuli suggesting that a synergistic response to multimodal stimuli …

Characterizing Hematological And Reproductive Phenotypes In The Plk4+/– Mouse, Brayden Labute

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The polo-like kinases (Plks) are a family of serine/threonine kinases, of which there are five members. These protein kinases are involved in a multitude of processes associated with the cell cycle. These include centriole duplication, maturation of centrosomes, mitotic entry, and cytokinesis. Since the Plks are involved in such critical processes, dysregulation of these proteins are implicated in the development of a variety of malignancies. Higher and lower levels of Plk4 are both associated with tumourigenesis, therefore Plk4 can act as either an oncogene or tumour suppressor. While Plk4–/– mice are embryonic lethal, Plk4+/– mice are viable. Aged …

Studies Of Chemosensory Responses In The Pharynx Of The Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Hasan Huseyin Polat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The sea lamprey is a basal vertebrate, and the oldest extant species with taste buds. The objective of this thesis was to study the chemosensory responses from the sea lamprey’s pharynx, which is located caudal to oral cavity and medial to seven lateral brachiopores. The pharynx contains taste buds that detect and respond to tastants to inform lampreys about gustatory factors in the environment. The location of these taste buds along the lateral surface of the pharynx was first determined using scanning electron microscopy. Then using electrophysiology, our recordings from these pharyngeal regions containing taste buds picked up responses from …

The Design And Testing Of Fluorescence-Based Sensors For Phosphate And Phosphonate, Sara Hassanzadehroknabadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is an essential compound for all living things, as it serves as a component of nucleic acids and ATP, which are required for plant growth and proliferation. However, when excess Pi enters the aquatic environment, it has severe detrimental effects through the induction of harmful algal blooms (HAB), which negatively impact aquatic life, the quality of drinking water as well as recreational activities. It is therefore critical to have fast, sensitive, and inexpensive sensors for Pi that quickly and quantitively measure its concentration in a field setting.

Phosphonates or organophosphorus compounds are phosphoric acids possessing alkyl or …

Mother Knows Best: Mechanistic Aspects Of Foraging Preference And Differential Arrestment Of Gravid Females: A Case Study On Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Vanessa Elizabeth Owen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Behavioural plasticity is a concept that describes a change in an organism’s behaviour due to their exposure to stimuli that differ from their usual environment. For instance, females of many insect species alter their behavioural responses when exposed to differing substances that they utilize for feeding, oviposition, and/or mating. Behaviours such as the frequency of walking, tasting, grooming exhibited by flies can be associated with the detection and acceptance of a suitable medium. For this thesis, the arrestment and behavioural response of gravid adult females of three species of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Lucilia sericata Meigen, Phormia regina Meigen, and …

The Bouba/Kiki Effect On Gendered Objects In The Arabic Language, Ghadir Nassereddine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People are more likely to associate the nonword bouba with a round shape, and kiki with a sharp shape, an effect known as the Bouba/Kiki effect (BK) (Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2001). Relatedly, female names are associated with a round shape whereas male names are associated with a sharp shape (Sidhu & Pexman, 2015) and this effect extends to grammatically gendered nonwords in French (Sidhu, Pexman, & Saint-Aubin, 2019). These associations have not been examined in Arabic, or with real words with a grammatical gender. The present study addresses this gap by examining the influences of letter sound …